Starting a business is a three-stage affair.
- The first step is deciding that you are going to start a business
- The second stage is deciding what you'll be doing
- The third stage is actually launching the business.
Making the choice to forge your own path, create your own source of income and become your own boss is exciting and scary in equal parts. It's for this reason that people tend to get stuck on the first stage. They've decided that they're going to start a business and they have at least a general idea of what it is they'll be doing or offering their customers, but they keep pushing the actual ‘start date' further and further back.
‘Next week' becomes ‘next month' becomes ‘next quarter'. Eventually they settle on ‘January, in the new year.' It's easy to see why, what with it being the turning of a new leaf – But you're doing yourself a disservice.
1. There's no better time than ‘now'
2. January might rank as one of the worst possible times to go ahead with your business plan.
Here's why.
Competition is at an all-time high.
Once upon a time you needed thousands in business capital, some kind of headquarters and perhaps even investors before you could even think about starting a business. These days you can potentially start with a £200 laptop and an internet connection.
It's never been easier to start a business – But this goes for everybody, not just you.
No matter what service or product you'll be offering, be it carpet cleaning in your local city, freelance writing or hospitality recruitment, there are bound to be people with the exact same business model in your local area aiming to start in the new year.
You and all your competitors are currently poised and ready to go at the start line – Why not start running now, while they're still waiting for the starting gun in January?
You already have momentum
Remember how starting a business is a three-stage process?
If you're already at stage one then you have some momentum, especially if you've only recently decided to go ahead. Not only are ideas still relatively fresh in your mind, but you've not yet found ways to talk yourself out of it.
Give it enough time and that voice in your head will start finding clever ways to sabotage you.
- ‘This business model is too saturated.'
- ‘I don't know enough to start.'
- ‘It's too risky.'
Starting now means striking while the iron is hot – Starting in January means striking while the iron is nearly cold, and the possibility of being your own boss has gone from exciting to frightening.
You're giving yourself breathing room
Starting a business is simple, but not easy.
There are a lot of moving parts to keep track of, so it's possible that something might slip under your radar and rear its head further down the line.
Nothing is worse than getting excited about something and then being told ‘no'. It's the kind of rare disappointment you only find in flights being cancelled the week before a holiday, a friend rearranging plans at the last possible second – and learning that have to put your business on pause after you've been hyping yourself up for the last X months.
Launching your website at this crucial early stage also helps - It can take Google 2 weeks (Possibly even longer) to fully index a website so it's visible in searches. The sooner you establish your online presence, the better prepared you are for launch day and the further ahead of the curve you are.
Starting your business sooner rather than later means you have extra breathing room to sort out hiccups, bureaucracy and possible oversights – Before competition is at an all-time high in January.
You leave yourself more open to opportunities
There's a strong chance you were directly (or indirectly) inspired to go ahead with a particular business model or service by somebody in your life, be they a friend, a family member or somebody you met online.
…People who might be open to mentoring you, partnering up or forwarding you opportunities they're too busy to take.
Deciding to start a business in January is having your eyes fixed on the horizon, instead of what's under your own two feet. There could be opportunities right under your nose!
Have you been waiting on a sign? Here it is.
Are you set on starting your business in January?
DotGO are here to help you do it now.
Even if you've not yet launched a business, having your website set up and ready to means you've ticked a vital box early on and potentially have a backlog of clients on day one.
Whether you're still considering your options or already have the final details sorted out, the DotGO team can help you establish your online presence, showcase your services, convince your target customers to get in touch and get you found on Google – All in a single hassle-free package.
Learn more about how you can catapult your business online
We believe there is a place for good-old-fashioned customer service on the Internet. It's in our DNA. Our different approach has made a big impression on our customers and a huge difference to their businesses.
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I had the pleasure of working with Dotgo again second go around on building a website with Faith who worked very well with my ideas and she put together a very good website for my plumbing business. I will definitely be recommend to any who needs a website.
Fantastic experience with DotGo from start to finish. Their process to get a small business up and running with a fully functioning e-commerce website is second to none. Their design and e-commerce portal is intuitive and shows you the progression of the website right up to the point it is published. I worked with Josh in sales who was particularly refreshing as he laid out exactly what the website would be able to do as well as certain limitations. As long as you know the way the process works and what they can and cannot do, this is an exceptionally inexpensive and fast way to get your small business online and selling. Jen worked with me throughout the process as my web developer and was professional, patient and really helpful throughout the process. I cannot recommend DotGo highly enough. Superb service and excellent value for money.
Great service, quickly produced website to a high standard.
I have been running my own small business for the last 21months, unfortunately my current website wasn't attracting enough traffic. I started to look for a professional website design company to create a new website without breaking the bank. After speaking to 3 compainies I decided Dotgo was the right company to build my new website, no hard sale, no blinding me with technical data just listening to the reasons why I wanted a new website. Once I had transferred the money the process was quick and easy, Dotgo were very slick and efficient in arranging a web designer, then a web writer drafted the first version within three days. I was sent the first draft via email in a word document. It was explained clearly this was a word document, which needed to be accurate but not complete, once I had viewed and fedback my thoughts the script writer does his magic. Once the magic content has been approved by me the web designer creates the first draft and shares it via a Zoom meeting. This is my opportunity to view and feedback to the web designer. There were a few minor changes required and to be honest the response from the web designer was fantastic, not a problem even removing a section and adding another section, which wasn't mentioned in the first two sessions. It was a quick turn around after the changes, I was delighted with the end result. Dotgo swapped my URL from my previous company to their own, the transition was seamless, although my company email wasn't playing ball, an IT expert sorted it out very quickly. Every person I spoke with at Dotgo were fantatic and a real pleasure to work with. I can highly recommend Dotgo services their attention to detail was second to none, which resulted in a fantastic website. The customer service doesn't end there continual support is only a phone call away. Well done Dotgo a first class service at a very reasonable price.
I had a great experience with the DotGo Team. From sales to web design - everyone was friendly and responsive. Their pricing was very good and I am very happy with my final website creation. It looks great :-) I highly recommend their service.
I wanted to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude for the outstanding service provided by DotGo represented by Liadin. We are thrilled with the level of service we have received, which has far exceeded our expectations. From start to finish, everything has been perfect. The timing of the service was impeccable, the quality of the work exceptional, and the professionalism displayed by your team truly remarkable. Not to mention the impeccable attention to customer service, which made the entire experience seamless and enjoyable. Moreover, the value we received in relation to the price paid is unparalleled. DotGo has truly set a benchmark for excellence in service delivery. Once again, thank you for your exceptional service. We look forward to continuing our partnership with DotGo and will not hesitate to recommend your services to others.
Josh, Jessica and Tom were fantastic from the get go. They not only created a website which I love, but made me a part of the process from start to finish.
They were very approachable and eager to assist with our vision of what we wanted for our new website. The process was very straightforward and easy. The end results have exceeded our expectations and would absolutely recommend DotGo to anyone.
